HtTYD - LotBK - Rise of Hallow
by ChainSwUniCrn
Summary: A Legend has arrived in the Archipelago, a Warrior of Un-Rivalled skill. With a war breaking out across the multi verse it's time to prepare before the fighting reaches this realm. Though . . . maybe the world filled with Dragons has some issues of its own to resolve first. Rated M for future events. Hiccup X OC / Astrid X OC
1. Chapter 0 - ?

**HtTYD; Legends of the Black Knight: Rise of Hallow**

Key:

Standard Text

"Speech"

 _"Thought Speak"_

Memory Text/Speech

\- POV's Thoughts -

 **Emphasis**

 **Chapter: ?**

 **Dimension: ?**

"This place . . . this place shall be, your tomb. You were lucky . . . this day. But even so you did not leave here . . . unscathed. I left you scarred, incomplete . . . I suppose you only saw fit to return the favor. And now here we stand, both left bitter and broken. My rule has not yet been ceased, nor has our little 'War' come to end."

"You once wished to be . . . a 'Hero'?"

"You once wished to be . . . strong?"

"To be . . . loved?"

"Your ignorance once astounded me, but you've since grown. You have learned since our first, encounter . . . you've seen the darkness hidden in these worlds. You have grown to be formidable . . . very formidable. To kill a God is no simple task, yet you have felled three."

" . . . I do not wish to fight you boy, but this war has reaped far too much for peace to come . . . without death. I have my own reasons for this war we wage, as the King of this Hellish realm I must safeguard the survival of my own."

"For this heinous act, and all others to follow, I apologise. As one leader to another . . . I only hope that you, my son, will one day understand this."

 **Authors Note:**

What's up Guys! Hope you enjoyed this short little sorta-intro thing I made up for you all. This short little scene here is purposely dialogue only and text place roughly two years after the main story begins.


	2. Chapter 1 - Hiccup the Useless

**HtTYD; Legends of the Black Knight: Rise of Hallow**

Key:

Standard Text

"Speech"

 _"Thought Speak"_

Memory Text/Speech

\- POV's Thoughts -

 **Emphasis**

 **Chapter 1: Hiccup the Useless**

 **Dimension: F.Y.R.E.**

 **Hiccups P.O.V.**

 **Two Years Prior**

Strength has always been the trait most highly valued among Viking Culture, and even more so amongst the Vikings of the Village Berk. Everything here showed that as well; from the men and the women to the children playing in the streets. The fishermen, the farmers, the cooks, and the smith as well. Even the animals which were raised on this wet heap of rocks we call an island were hardier than others of their kind found elsewhere.

However, the strongest among them was the Viking Chief. Stoic the Vast; the largest man on the island and the strongest too. Through my early childhood tales were told of how he had popped the skull of a Monstrous Nightmare clean from it's body. Surely an easy feat for Berk's finest Chief since Grimsbeard the Ghastly.

And regarding his wife? Most people who'd yet to meet the fair maiden would say that she was as large and powerful as her husband but they couldn't have been farther from the truth. Valhallarama, Valka as the village knew her, was far different from the great Chief. Where he was a giant mountain of a man with tree trunk thick arms and a body made from stone, Valka was tall and willowy in the most graceful sense. With the beauty and grace of the Deadly Nadder along with the pure strength of a Gronkle. Possibly more stubborn than the Chief; they had made a fitting couple, a match made in Valhalla even. So; when it was announced that she was with child, the people of Berk were simple overjoyed by this news. Eagerly anticipating the gods sent gift their child would surely be. But no-one expected the pathetic, if not extremely energetic, little runt they were given.

And; I suppose that that's where I come in. The weakling runt of a son to our mightiest Warrior and fairest Valkyrie. My name's Hiccup; great name I know but it's not the worst, Vikings believe a hideous name will scare off gnomes and trolls, and to be honest its a fair bit better than Snotlout. Given the lack of short magically beings on Berk I can only assume our names truly are terrifying to them. In short, my life here is terrible but it hadn't always been that way. Though with my...let say unique personality, I'm sure it was bound to have gotten worse regardless of past events.(edited)

 **Twelve Years Prior**

I'd been treated kindly around the village when I was younger. I'd made friends with the other children my age and at one point even a sort of **'Guardian Valkyrie'** if you could call her that. Since we'd met; i'd carried a burning flame for **'The Most Beautiful Girl in All of Midgard'** , Astrid Hofferson, and it's likely that I always would. As children we had been near inseparable and the village as a whole didn't seem to mind me too much. I had just recently turned four when my mother Valka decided that I ought to learn how to use a weapon, even at an amateur's level. Which, as it soon became apparent, that was all I was capable of. Even after the other Warrior's and Shield Maiden's of Berk had given up hope, claiming that I simply could not be taught, my Mother had never lost faith in me. My Father would boast on and on about how I would one day be the strongest of them all.

For the next two years that's how it was like, and things were good for us all. My mother and father would train me, or attempt to, and very slowly I was learning to protect my self. Even Astrid had helped when she herself wasn't training to become Berk's finest Shield Maiden. The other kids were also supportive as was a good portion of the village.

Then it all came crashing down, slowly at first then all in one mangled heap of broken dreams and hope long lost.

For countless centuries; Dragon's had raided Berk, depriving us of valuable resources, but this was easily the worst in recent history. As usual, the raid was 'led' by several of the more rare and elusive dragon species within the archipelago. The Storm Cutter, Triple Stryke and Nightfury very rarely entered the fighting themselves, usually preferring too keep at a distance and protect their kin from high above. Tonight was different though, tonight they were on the ground with us. On it own, one Strike class dragon is enough to make grown men and women shake in their fur lined boots, but two of them along with a powerful Sharp class like the Storm Cutter is surely a poor omen for our people. Then when one of those dragons is identified as the infamous Nightfury? Screams echoed through the sky. From the window in my room I could see the incoming dragons, making their way towards Berk against the evening sunset. Like a cloud of fiery death which rained down from the heavens above.

The raid had started as any other would, with calls of "DRAGON RAID!" being cried throughout the village, waking all from the calm of their sleep. On the floor below me I could hear my parent's scrambling to locate thier weapons and any armor they had available. A door was pulled open then promptly slammed shut as my mother and father ran to the villages defense.

"Hiccup, go to the forge!" my father had shouted to me as he disappeared behind a low wall to lead the other Vikings as mum made her way to the Great Hall to help defend the young and elderly. I quickly left my room, grabbing the short sword which rested by the houses entrance as I went.

"Remember; when you leave this house, Hiccup, always take a weapon. Always be ready to fight son." my mothers advise from training rang within my mind.

The way to the forge was safe for maybe the first fifteen feet before the dragons had arrived, diving into the streets and attempting to make off with any food they could get ahold of. The Storm Cutter and Triple Stryke both landed atop the villager's homes; respectively blasting streams of fire and lashing it's multiple tails to separate the Vikings from their kin while disabling any who strayed to close to them. I'd frantically crawled under the deck of a villager's home, narrowly missing the Nightfury's plasma blast burning where I'd stood moments ago. Turning back I saw I'd had the fortune of also avoiding a fight between some of our warriors and a pair of Hideous Zipplebacks. I was roughly pulled from under the deck by a fisherman, Ack I believe he was called, just as a Gronkle crashed into the deck with its miniscule wings tied in a bola.

"Get to the forge boy!" he commanded, grabbing hold of the lower jaw of a charging Nightmare and forcing it upwards with one hand while simultaneously pushing me in the direction of the forge. The signature whistle of the Nightfury began to grow as I neared the forge, in the distance a watchtower was brought low by a plasma blast as the fury pulled out of its dive and back into the now night sky. The forge itself wasn't anything overly special, a short and stocky building placed on the Cliffside. The two front facing walls were meant to serve as an L shaped counter for both incoming and outgoing repairs. Although the shops smith, Gobber, wasn't the best at keeping things in order and maintaining upkeep. The counters and floor were heavily cluttered with weapons in need of repair, some of them even snapped into pieces. A wheelbarrow had been placed near the shops entrance, and Gobber had been tossing repaired weapons into it for the villagers to grab as they ran by but he was beginning to fall behind. There weren't many left now though, a handful of sharpened swords and a few hammers at best.

"Gah! Where's my blasted hand gone now?" could be heard from the smith, Gobber, as he pounded a bent sword back into shape. I'd ducked inside quickly, staying clear of Gobber's swings as he wasn't always the most coordinated Viking but he was certainly the best at what he did. An important note about the Meathead with the attitude and interchangeable hands. He was almost always sarcastic and witty in his speech, something anyone would pick up on quickly from repeated interaction with the hearty smith. Losing limbs was not an out of place occurrence among the Viking tribes, after fighting dragons for most of your life you were bound to earn yourself a few battle scars. Gobber himself was missing his left hand as well as his right foot. Instead he now had a wooden peg leg and a wide variety of hand attachments, varying from a hook and hammer to a backscratcher and mistletoe for the holiday spirit. "Ah, Hiccup! Head to the back lad; Ol' Gobber'll keep you safe from them beasties, Haha!" he shouted rather joyously, seeming to enjoy the surrounding chaos. I made my around him towards the back room of the shop, silently noting how difficult it was to move around with broken weapons littering the floor. Behind me Gobber was muttering silent curses to himself while straightening another blade, several villagers rushed by shouting for new weapons before either grabbing a fresh one from the wheelbarrow or re-using an insufficient one from the counter. Gobber was a good smith, great even, but he was still only one man. I was still young, having just turned six at the time, and I still wasn't overly strong but certainly I could do something to help him. At least, I hoped that I could. I may not have been able to actually repair anything, given that I was still a little short and didn't know how too, but maybe I could make it easier for Gobber to do so. I returned to the counter as Gobber was pounding a detached axe blade back into place and grabbed hold of the hilt to a bent sword. The blade was heavier than I had expected, but none-the-less managed to balance it across my arms. I was stood slightly behind Gobber as he threw another repaired weapon into the wheelbarrow. "AH!" he'd cried when he turned to suddenly see me standing behind him offering the broken sword. There was a moment of confusion before he took the blade from me and began hammering it back into shape. "What are you doing Hiccup, I thought I told you to stay in the back!" by the the time he'd finished the blade I was stood behind him again with another weapon for him to repair. He only huffed at my stubborn nature before he took the axe and began sharpening its blades. "Well?" was asked rather impatiently.

"I help!" I responded as I struggled to life a hammer from the ground. He gave me a strange look for a moment before he resigned himself to my assistance, taking the hammer himself before I hurt myself.

"Well, get to it then lad. Swords and Axe's only though! I don't need you hurting yourself now." and for a short time that's how it was, I'd bring him weapon's and they'd be repaired to a useable state. "Man the fort Hiccup, they need me out there!" he ordered me, tossing the final weapon for the night into the wheelbarrow and attaching his hammer hand. "Stay...put...there. You know what I mean." was added last minute as he rushed into the battle wildly swinging his hand into the sky at passing dragons, screaming as he went. By now the raid was slowly coming to end, with most of the dragons captured or gone with the exception of a dozen or so stragglers and their so called 'leaders'. A large portion of our food had been taken and several homes were destroyed but we could rebuild. Unfortunately, the raid couldn't come to an end soon enough for me.

A Monstrous Nightmare that had evaded capture caught sight of me standing in the forge and bellowed a searing torrent of flame, setting a good portion of the forge on fire. The fire narrowly missed me as I ducked behind the counter till the flames abruptly stopped. At the first chance I was given I ran, fleeing from the forge and sprinting threw the village as fast as I could. I dove between buildings, hoping to lose the Nightmare in Berks alleyways but the beast simply climbed atop of the villagers homes, following me from above. Reaching the end of the alley was the cliff side surrounding the eastern edge of the village. To my left were the docks but given the angry dragon which had dropped down between me and them I turned and ran in the other direction as it gave chase, going farther uphill. A high peak overlooking the ocean forced me to stop, leaving me with a dragon I couldn't fight and an ocean I couldn't swim in. Something large hit the ground behind me and I turned to see the Nightmare slowly approaching me. I took a step back in fear, tripping over the underbrush and landing on my rear. As I lay there with an angry dragon bearing down on me all I remember thinking was, "I'm going to die."

I was terrified, I shut my eyes waiting for the end. The sound of splitting wood and a roar of pain drew me to open my eyes again. There, holding the dragon back with the handle of her axe, was a Shield Maiden standing in the remains of a broken shield. With a mighty shove she forced the dragon back a pace and then followed up by hitting it across its face with the flat of her axe. The Nightmare stumbled from the force of her attack, spitting a few spurts of magma from its mouth that seemed to be burning teeth. It turned and roared at the Valkyrie before igniting it's body and charging her. As she side-stepped the Nightmare and shouldered it to the side I saw only a brief glance of who my protector was.

My mother, Valka Haddock, stood between me and a dragon four times her size in a fight to the death. Like a deadly dance between two equally matched opponents constantly trading blows, both refusing to give an inch. As the monstrous beast charged again she dove under and sliced its wing to shredded pieces so that it could no longer fly to safety before she kicked up into the dragons belly forcing it to the cliffs edge. It rolled, frantically trying to put distance between it and the cliff . Unfortunately, for it, my mother was quicker and she charged the fire breathing beast hitting it once more with the flat of her axe and then kicking it over the side. After that all was silent for a only a moment before she dropped her axe and rushed to her little boys side, checking him over for any injuries.

"Are you ok son!? I was so worried." she spat out quickly, slightly beginning to panic as the adrenaline wore off. "I saw the Nightmare chasing you and my heart nearly stopped! Why weren't you in the forge darling?" by this point I was still largely frozen in my fear from very nearly being eaten alive and all I could do was hold tightly to my mothers arms as tears began to fall, refusing to let go.

"I-it found me there mommy..." I'd only whispered upon finding my voice again. "Is it over mommy?" I asked her as she finished confirming that I was unharmed.

"Yes, son. It's ov-..." she never got the chance to finish.

"Look Out!" was called to us in panic filled voices and we both turned to see several villagers running towards us being led by my father, all of them pointing upwards. Looking up was a chilling sight, the Storm Cutter was rapidly diving on us and was extremely close now. There was no way to fight it now and my mother would never let harm come to me. She grabbed hold of my arms and threw me to the side away from danger; I looked back just in time to see the Storm Cutter pass over mum and grab her in its claws, carrying her off into the night sky.

"MOMMY!" I'd screamed in dismay as my father called for his wife, demanding that the demons return her to us.

`"STOIC, HICCUP!" the villagers all tried to stop the dragon, throwing spears and firing arrows but it was to far out range by then and they all fell short of their mark. I sat there crying my eyes out, calling for her to come back for what seemed like hours. At some point my father had gingerly lifted me into his arms and brought me home; the whole way he was assuring me that it wasn't my fault but his words held no conviction, as if even he didn't believe what he said. No one had seen her fighting the Nightmare, all they knew was that she had run after her son who'd wandered off during a raid. It wasn't long before people started to talk; saying how I hadn't listened, how I'd gotten her killed. They were quickly silenced by my father but even he looked at me differently now. My only saving grace was Gobber, saying how I'd been in the forge trying to help him. He'd even suggested making me his apprentice, to 'lighten the work load' he said. My father had immediately refused; but after the first of my many 'hiccups' he finally agreed claiming it would 'keep me out of trouble till he knew what to do with me'.

It was like that for two years, with many more of my so called 'hiccups' in that time. And then someone thought, if my father wouldn't punish me for my mistakes then they would. That's when Snotlout and the twins became my constant bullies, and it was when I lost Astrid and Fishlegs as my friends. And now its been ten years, twelve since my mother was taken. I'm eighteen now and still nothing has changed in that time. My bullies are worse then ever now and even Astrid glares at me with disgust. My cousin had graciously given me the title **'Hiccup the Useless'** though people were careful to avoid calling me that in the presence of a father who wouldn't have cared anyway. The raids never ended but ever since that fateful night only the Nightfury had returned, never being seen and never missing its target. In the days to come things on berk would change with the arrival of what the village only called a legend. With luck this would be my chance to be given a new lease on life. With luck, I would no longer be Useless.

But who am I kidding? I am what I'll always be.

 **Hiccup the Useless.**

Authors Note:

And thats a wrap! What's up guys! Hope you enjoyed the Chapter, next we'll be taking a look at this legend who will soon be arriving on Berk! He's an OC of mine and the name-sake of this story/series of stories (hopefully). Keep your eyes open, the next chapter will be posted sometime tomorrow night(May 5th).


	3. Chapter 2 - The Black Knight

**HtTYD; Legends of the Black Knight: Rise of Hallow**

Key:

Standard Text

"Speech"

 _"Thought Speak"_

Memory Text/Speech

\- POV's Thoughts -

 **Emphasis**

 **Chapter 2: The Black Knight**

 **Dimension: F.Y.R.E.**

 **Bruce's P.O.V.**

Let it be known that by no means what-so-ever do I enjoy sailing. Granted; ocean's in general tend to make me uncomfortable, but spending seven years surrounded by the fires of the Demon Realm will give anyone a strong distaste for large bodies of open water. Of course I could always fly to my destination, Gods knew I wished I could; but given the Vikings strong distaste for the dragon species it may be in my best interest to avoid a scene with potential allies in our ongoing war, and due to the similarities between my bonded and dragons I'd not risk his life for the mere sake of a more comfortable trip over the sea. Of course though; that didn't stop the stubborn fool from following our ship from overhead, high above the clouds.

I suppose I should introduce myself though; my name is Bruce Christians, given how little that name means to the inhabitants of the multi-verse perhaps you know me as The Black Knight.

Once upon a time some teenager from the Arizona desert was dragged into a war between the defenders of my birth realm, The Shadow Knights, and an enemy we called The Shadow Race. The story of the war itself is a tale for another day, perhaps when this war has ended but I can make no guarantee's, though the short version is as follows.

I was a third party of sorts in the beginning of the war, a rogue as was my mentor Rell, not clearly working with or against one side or the other. After many mishaps and being tortured to no end I earned my place among The Shadow Knights as did Rell, though he wasn't very well received. Before long though unforeseen circumstances forced me away, past the outer colonies in our solar system, to a wild world called Pandora. I was there for six or so years, building my own force which would later be known as The Black Army. After returning to earth and ending the human-shadow war we had peace for less than a year before our newest threat appeared.

An Unfortunate series of events to say the least. First was the seemingly natural disasters coming in waves over the course of a month. Then came the never ending fires; flames that would burn endlessly, even when submerged. Then finally the rift, a gateway leading to and from countless worlds and dimensions, and from it came the plague. Infecting out own people before every last one of us was forced through the open gate. Once inside the rift we were separated, several thousand of us all being sent to different worlds. Over time we've gathered our forces, both old and new, but the multi-verse is immense and the plague which sent is here is far from the only threat. And now that lead's us here, sitting on a shifting ship sailing towards the Island of Berk.

Already my men had visited the other Viking tribes which were within a reasonable range of our own Island we had claimed two years prior. So far six tribes had been visited, recruiting six of the young for training from for of the Islands. The Bog Burglars were closest, a female dominate tribe that was fairly easily won over after I short encounter between the Chief and myself. The Merciless Meatheads were next in line, negotiations were surprisingly calm and we were well received by the tribe. The Hysterics tribe was the strangest encounter yet, a very wild and unruly group of people though the Chief was well respected among them. Then The Berserks, the tribe was more aggressive than the others and if not for Chief Oswald I find it doubtful we would have stayed long enough to recruit anyone. The frequently warring Outcast and the hyper violent Lava-Louts were avoided, I felt it best to avoid sailing my crew to their potential death in a simple recruiting mission. Perhaps in the future I'd pay them a visit on my own but I imagine that would be several months, if not a year, down the line.

Already a large portion of Berk could be seen waiting on the docks waiting behind the Chief and his heir as we pulled along side the docks. The Chief himself was easy to spot amongst the crowd, a truly humungous man built like Rex but where he stood under five feet this Chief was easily seven feet high and built just as large if not larger. With a large red beard extending halfway down his chest and piercing green eyes which never lost focus. Next to him was his complete opposite, a slightly shorter man standing maybe an inch or two higher than my own six foot one. Messy auburn hair and inquisitive green eyes the same shade as the Chiefs. Appearance wise he was clearly the Chief's son but he stood in the awkward middle of looking like family and appearing as a stranger. Interestingly enough, behind him the villagers were sending him several poorly hid glares of disappointment and disgust. A board was extending across the gap separating the ship from the docks and as I descended alone I sent a silent thought to my men both above and below deck, an order to remain onboard until further notice. I took a step towards the Chief and prepared myself to greet the people of Berk.

 **Hiccup's P.O.V.**

Well, in all honesty, today promises to be just fantastic. No chance at all for me to embarrass myself in-front of this fabled warrior. Not even a little bit...ah, who am I fooling? Today was likely set up specifically to make me look bad, or I guess worse in my case, and with what D-I mean Stoic would announce tonight? At least a certain someone would be happy come nightfall, I doubt I'd ever hear the end of it either.

My day had started well before the sun rose into the sky, with my supposed 'father' screaming for me to get up before physically dragging me out of bed. I admit that its not the worst wake up call I've ever gotten, it certainly beat being thrown into the ocean. As I went about my morning routine my so called 'father' briefly explained that our long awaited guest would be arriving today, a great warrior that the village was currently enamored with. Best of all, he came seeking new apprentices.

It must be nice having all that love an respect right? Though if this man is even a little like the other warriors which have visited Berk then I highly doubt I'd be given even a first glance today. On the horizon, passing threw the sea stacks which had been carved to honor past chiefs, the warriors ship could be seen sailing into the docks. Already a large part of the village was down at the docks, eagerly awaiting for him to disembark his ship. As Stoic and I made our way to the front; the villagers shot me numerous withering glares, quietly voicing their blatant disgust at my mere existence thought their looks were fairly common place now. The warriors ship had docked now, and a flat piece of wood was extended onto the ship. Then only one man stepped off, dressed in all black clothing and light armor with a bag hanging from his shoulder and a massive blade strapped to his back. He was like any other mortal men, though clearly he was no Viking. Short dark brown hair and a thin beard tinged in red on the edges. It was no where near the Chief's own massive facial hair, more of the sort a young man would grow when reaching maturity. He was tall and though he wasn't large he was certainly no 'hiccup' either. "Are you Stoic the Vast, Chief of Berk?" he asked, addressing my father who seemed rather shocked by the mans physical appearance.

"I am; and, on behalf of all my people, I welcome you to Berk!" he adapted, quickly accepting that this was the man we had so eagerly awaited. He extended an arm and they shook briefly before turning and making their way threw the parting crowd with me on their heels.

"My name is Bruce Christians, its an honor to be allowed into your waters Chief Stoic." flattery was always a good road to take when dealing with Vikings, as he seemingly knew, and was an even better idea when addressing those in positions of power. The Chiefs beard lifted slightly in a near unnoticeable grin as they continued on the path.

"The honor is ours Bruce, the chance your giving us is indeed a very generous opportunity." the Chief was a smart man, certainly no fool and was not only made Chief for his impressive prowess in battle but for his keen mind as well. He was well aware that their would be some sort of catch to his offer. They spoke idly through the time it took us to reach The Great Hall, occasionally the Chief would be questioned about the passing buildings and daily village life while Bruce would be questioned on his own homeland as well as his Island within the archipelago. "And what of the dragon scourge Bruce, surely these cursed beasts stand little chance against one such as yourself."

"Indeed the Dragons are of little threat to my people though it may not be for the reasons you believe." The doors to the Great Hall stood before us now as the Chief gave Bruce a questioning gaze. Seeming to be aware of peoples eyes on him he turned to meet the Chiefs stare before briefly glancing to either side of himself and noticing that we had been joined by Spitelout, the Chiefs brother, and Gobber the blacksmith. "Come, let us all discuss this over a meal." the Chief simply gave a short nod in agreement to Bruce's suggestion and led the group of us into the Great Hall as the Cooks began to prepare a simple meal for the five of us. "Tell me of your raids. Whatever you deem of necessary importance."

The cooks arrived a few moments later as the three elders of the table gathered their thoughts. Four full plates of lamb, bread and mead were delivered to the important ones while I was given a rather measly plate of fish and rice. I vaguely notice how much smaller my meal is from the others but start eating anyway as my father began telling our tale. "The raid's started with our forefather's forefather's, almost three hundred years ago."

"Aye, the beasts come maybe once a week, save for te winter months mind you. Mid November threw say, late February the beasties aren't seen nearly any. But by then its to cold, and the snow too deep for us to make any noticable headway in repairing the village from their attacks." Gobber absently added, more focused on digging his stone tooth out of his tankard of mead.

"They come between nightfall and sunrise, steal our food, destroy our buildings and that blasted Nightfury reduces are towers and catapults to rubble! They just leave afterwards, flying back to whatever pits the beasts first crawled out of." Spitelout slammed his fist on the table as the newly gathered crowd cheered their agreement.

"Countless times we've searched the fog for the nest and all the Gods have given us in return is burnt ships and dead bodies." a generally bitter statement from our normally brave Chief. The gathered crowd mumbled several other points of the raids such as what kinds of dragons raided us, how the raids were generally short lasting but chaotic.

Bruce was patient throughout the Vikings ramblings, allowing them to scream and shout their pent up rage and frustrations. "Your actions are certainly commendable Chief Stoic, and thank you for explaining things to me. That said I suppose its only fair I explain to you our own situation." he took a short breath, leaning back and meeting the eyes of everyone listening in before him. "The Island we inhabit was chosen for several reasons, foremost though was its location. South-West from here near the very boarders of the Archipelago, is an Island very easily larger than your own. A massive cliff extended from the north of the island through the eastern side before sloping down to the southern most beaches. But, most important, the closest dragons nest to us is the one hidden threw the fog of Helheim's gate. Our Island is so ridiculously far that we are very seldom raided by dragons. That isn't to say it never happens, as we are still raided, but its very rarely dragons which are raiding us."

"So, if not dragons, what then are you raided by?" this coming from Spitelout as he drained the last of his mead.

"Unfortunately that is a story for another time, though I will say this. By nature, dragons are creatures of magic. Some say they were to be birthed as creations from Odin before his son Loki stole them for his own, other claim that they came from the fires of Volcanos or even more insane from the sun itself. Regardless of their origin, they are still these creatures of magic which we fundamentally know very little about. Even the beasts of my homeland, some dragons some not, my people know very little about." Threw his speech a small crowd of villagers had gathered to listen in to what was being spoken. Some nodded in agreement while others where quick to dismiss the notion of magic. Seeing the widely split responses from the people Bruce was quick to address the growing skepticism. "Before you dismiss this please do consider; Loki, the trickster god himself is regarded as the most powerful magician to ever have been. For better or worse; magic is real, though perhaps only available to the Gods themselves."

Despite the initial unease with mention of the trickster, I could clearly see he had gotten through to most of the gathered Vikings. Quiet mumbling was beginning to break out among those who had been listening, Bruce himself now seemed largely uninterested with the surrounding conversation, instead opting to finish his meal in peace.

"Alright that's enough now." The Chief called attention to himself, waiting a short moment for the chatter to subside before continuing. "Lets move onto more pressing matters. Bruce, you've come here seeking to train some of our own in your ways?" and there it was, the topic on everyone's mind, who would this great warrior choose to train?

"That is correct Chief."

"And who will be chosen, how will you decide?"

"I'll likely end up with with between five and ten recruits before we begin the return trip home with those chosen. Fighting skill obviously will be taught and improved upon during training but it also gives me a chance to evaluate the strengths, weaknesses, and potential of those interested. Come morning they'll be given a choice. Spar with our shipmaster, Rex, with me watching or a one on one evaluation by myself. The choice is theirs to make, the choice between the two is given as even if your unable to fight well it doesn't necessarily mean you wont be chosen as a recruit. Some of my strongest warriors were unable to properly wield a weapon before training, and now they are near masters." his answer was well received by all, and not having to fight spoke well for me. I was never fully trained, without mom here Stoic had quickly given up on making a warrior out of me. Even so I couldn't help the nagging feeling that this evaluation would be just as difficult as the spar.

"And how long would they be gone for?" was shouted from the crowd, prompting several others to repeat the question before Bruce raised a hand calling for silence before answering.

"The length of their training is fully up to them. If they are committed and give it their all then things will go smoothly. Should they resist . . . well as I said, its completely up to them. I will say at the very minimum it will take fifteen months, " a collective gasp came from the gathered Vikings upon hearing how lengthy the training would be, some even spoke of forbidding their children from attempting to be trained but all of them knew they couldn't rightly stop them "the fastest a recruit has ever completed training is eleven months. But, lets just say we had to . . . over-look many things to accomplish that." Bruce paused a moment, prompting anyone with more questions to come forth. When none did he continued. "As for who will be chosen, the standard for my people is anyone of age sixteen and older. Though for this trip anyone over the age of twenty-two will be refused." the initial outcry came as expected, though he was quick to silence them. "Those of you against this hear me out, you have all completely your training long ago. Your very likely set in your ways and very much of what I would teach would be redundant to you. Should you still wish to be trained it can be discussed at a later date."

With that it seemed our short meeting with Bruce had come to an end, he stood and gave a short word to each of us here. He even paused a moment to send a greeting my way, though the villagers still gave me the standard disgusted glances as he did so. He lastly turned to the Chief, stating that he'd return tonight for supper and would re explain everything to the tribe after all had been fed. As he left the Great Hall so did the rest, and I was once again forgotten by the masses.

Throughout the village people ran to and fro, gathering food and supplies for tonights feast as show of thank to the warrior. At least they did when they weren't shooting me the evil eye that is. Though I suppose being the village nuisance tends to have that effect. Mostly at least I mean. In the distance the Berk teens were working to repair a home that was wrecked by the most recent dragon raid. Snotlout and the twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, still bully me quite frequently. Anything ranging from beating to prank, though even those tended to cause some sort of pain. Fishlegs was a sort of outcast like I was, but being big and bulky like a proper Viking he wasn't ostracized like I was. As for Astrid, while she didn't bully me like Snot and the twins and she didn't walk away like Fish did, she only watched with an ashamed and disappointed scowl on her face. To them our past friendship didn't mean anything, all they saw now was 'Hiccup the Useless'.

For all the abuse and insults the village as a whole has sent my way, I've never given up hope that one day things will change and I never stopped trying to prove myself. Though maybe this was the best chance I'd ever be given. A new face on Berk, one who didn't know anything of my past or present reputation among our people, and one who seek'd to make new warriors of his caliber. First impressions were fairly interesting, he certainly wasn't anything like the others who have visited Berk in the past and he was nothing like our own people. He was calm, confident, quiet and seemed to only raise his voice when absolutely necessary. If anyone could change this...this hiccup, into something-anything better, it would be him. By the Gods will, my days as 'Hiccup the Useless' were coming to an end and, with luck, the warrior would be my way to a new life.

 _ **Authors Note:**_

What's up guys! Hope you enjoyed the Chapter, what did you think of my OC Bruce and who/what do you think his bonded is? Next chapter will be seeing who gets chosen, care to place your bets?


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